Author: Kurt Weiske

Crumpler 7 Million Dollar Home

Posted on by Kurt Weiske
I’ve never been a fan of camera bags that looked too much like a
“CAMERA BAG!!!“. Much of my photography is done at dusk, early mornings, and urban street street photography in dodgy neighborhoods. I need to be able to pull my camera out, take a shot quickly and stuff it back quickly, all the while looking innocuous.

My current bag is a cheap $12 messenger bag, and is stealthy as hell. As a day to day bag, it’s WONDERFUL. It holds my laptop, all my computer peripherals, a LOMO LC-A, papers, pens, my lunch, and whatever else i could throw at it.
Unfortunately, there’s no padding and no compartments inside, so lenses, flashes, cameras, film, and whatever else is free to jostle about. One good drop would total a camera.

Enter the 7 Million Dollar Home. From a distance, it looks like a plain old messenger bag, but it’s got stiffeners, padded, reconfigurable dividers, a zipper compartment inside the flap, an expansion pocket on the front of the bag, a pocket that might work for a tripod, an adjustable strap with removable pad, and it looks like it’s built to last.

I’m taking it out tonight for a test-drive, wish me luck!

Product page (Crumpler), Buy a 7 Million Dollar Home (Amazon)

“American Photobooth”, a book review

Posted on by Kurt Weiske
American Photobooth is a new illustrated history of photobooths, which first made their splash in the 1920s. Photographer Nakki Goranin became obsessed with the technology after creating a series of her own photobooth self-portraits now in the collection of the International Center for Photography in New York. She then spent nearly a decade tracing the history and culture of photobooths and collected thousands of vintage photobooth prints, like those above. The new issue of Smithsonian profiles Goranin and includes an online slideshow of images from the book.

Goranin doesn’t much care for the mall’s machine, which is digital. But, she says, there are only about 250 authentic chemical booths left in the United States…

Before the photobooth first appeared, in the 1920s, most portraits were made in studios. The new, inexpensive process made photography accessible to everyone. “For 25 cents people could go and get some memory of who they were, of a special occasion, of a first date, an anniversary, a graduation,” Goranin says. “For many people, those were the only photos of themselves that they had.”

Because there is no photographer to intimidate, photobooth subjects tend to be much less self-conscious. The result—a young boy embracing his mother or teenagers sneaking a first kiss—is often exceptionally intimate. “It’s like a theater that’s just you and the lens,” Goranin says. “And you can be anyone you want to be.”

Photobooth article (Smithsonian), Buy American Photobooth (Amazon)

[via boingboing.net ]

BBF, a TLR 35mm camera?

Posted on by Kurt Weiske

(updated, more picture-y goodness at the bottom!)

A little birdie told me about the BBF (Blackbird, Fly), a camera that the LOMO Society was planning to sell. I hadn’t heard of it before and decided to do a little research.

A little googling uncovered this post with some information. It sounds fun – a 35mm TLR with basic manual controls that shoots a square image? I wonder who would be able to develop them as square? I suppose anyone who processed 6×6 prints should be able to figure it out.

My first experience with a TLRs was with old 120, 620 and 127 cameras I had originally collected as interesting wall art. When I dusted them off and loaded them with film, I found the combination of a coupled viewing and taking lens, the distinctive upright shape of a TLR, and the old-school feel of a waist finder to be a unique experience in photography. With a TLR, I was more in touch with the shot, spent more time composing, more time taking my shots and ultimately took better photos.

The manufacturer’s official page is at http://www.superheadz.com/bbf.

Check it out!

Mimicking film with digital tricks

Posted on by Kurt Weiske

Pssst! I’ve got a secret!

Most decent imaging programs have the capability of automating actions. With the right actions applied to a photo, you can easily mimic some of the quirky qualities of your favorite film camera on multiple photos and bundle the actions to share with others.

To Wit, the Holganizer. With it, you can take a rectangular, well exposed digital image and make it look like it was taken with the Holga, a $30 plastic camera. This was taken with a Canon SD110; for the original, see the previous post.

The film banner on the top and bottom are a nice touch, but unfortunately they don’t change when you make another Holganized pic, making the viewer think you’re permanently stuck on exposure # 9.

For a good Holga action, see the previous link. There are tons of LOMO actions for Photoshop and The Gimp, just a google search away.

“Night Vision: The Art of Urban Exploration”, a book review

Posted on by Kurt Weiske

nv_cover__9

Troy Paiva is one of my favorite photographers of late. I love his choice of subjects – googie architecture, abandoned buildings, junk yards and the southwest desert. He shoots almost exclusively at night and uses a combination of colored flashes and LED lights to “paint” his subjects.

Troy published his first book of night-time photography, Lost America: The Abandoned Roadside West in 2003. His newest book,
Night Vision: The Art of Urban Exploration continues his explorations into abandoned scenery, night time photography, surreal coloring, and imaginative vision.

I found a full review on Epic Edits, a new (to me) photo blog.

More of Troy’s work is available on his Flickr page.

[via Epic Edits ]

Lomography + JPG + Photojojo San Francisco & NYC Meetups

Posted on by Kurt Weiske

Calling all San Francisco and New York City Lomographers!

Our friends at JPG Magazine and Photojojo are teaming up with us for a very cool event on September 3rd.

Simultaneously, in both cities (well, 3-hours apart actually), we will be holding a meet-up at sunset in Dolores Park in SF and at Union Square Park in NYC. (Round-up begins at 7pm, but shooting will start when the sun goes down.)

Lomography + JPG + Photojojo San Francisco & NYC meet-ups

Miroslav Tichy

Posted on by Kurt Weiske

Am so enthralled with the photographic work of Czech artist Miroslav Tichy, who made cameras out of cardboard tubes, thread spools, rubber bands, and other similar things, and then photographed public scenes in his small hometown. He developed the negatives in a bucket at night, because he didn’t have a darkroom. Later, he said that the defects and ugliness were where the true art happened.

Photography is painting with light! The blurs, the spots, those are errors! But the errors are part of it, they give it poetry and turn it into painting. And for that you need as bad a camera as possible! If you want to be famous, you have to do whatever you’re doing worse than anyone else in the whole world.

[via This Is That ]

Google Posterity Post — flashing DD-WRT onto a Belkin FD4230-4 router

Posted on by Kurt Weiske

I’ve had this little router for years, bought it for $20 with a $20 rebate, and since upgrading the OS to DD-WRT it’s performed flawlessly.

I have a Belkin wireless router (model number: F5D7230-4 v1444). For some reason, the Virtual Server (or Port Forwarding) did not work correctly. It’s obviously a firmware problem. I checked the firmware version and my router had the latest firmware from Belkin. I wrote to Belkin Customer Service but who knows how long I have to wait to a response from them.

Continue reading “Google Posterity Post — flashing DD-WRT onto a Belkin FD4230-4 router”

T-Mobile U.S.A. GPRS/EDGE, ISDN, and WAP settings

Posted on by Kurt Weiske

Want to configure your Smart Phone, tablet or telephone to use the T-Mobile data network? This is a simple collection of settings for use with the T-Mobile (formerly VoiceStream) U.S.A. network I’ve collected over the years. I have used these settings to configure my own GSM mobile phones, PDAs and laptops. They may or may not be accurate at a given time and are compiled here in the hope that others may find them useful.

I have no affiliation with T-Mobile other than being a customer for several years.

Continue reading “T-Mobile U.S.A. GPRS/EDGE, ISDN, and WAP settings”

The Art of No

Posted on by Kurt Weiske

The Art of No

…what nobody ever teaches us is perhaps the most important thing you can learn to be a successful working designer: How to not say “no”. If I could give one piece of advice to the designer just getting into client work, or even some who’s been doing this for a while, it’s this: The next time you want to say “no” to a client, boss, or colleague, say this instead: “Why?”

 

Using a Blackberry handheld as a dialup modem

Posted on by Kurt Weiske
  1. Introduction
    Did you know that BlackBerry can now be used just like an external modem for a laptop computer, so that a laptop can have full Internet access? This is useful when you need to do certain things that a BlackBerry cannot yet do. Increasing numbers of success reports have caused me to post this message. (Note: Mark Rejhon has not himself yet successfully used a BlackBerry as a modem; I am aggregating information). Sometimes, it is still tricky to set up a BlackBerry as a modem for a laptop, but this feature is becoming more and more common in cellphones, and BlackBerry models are following suit.
  2. Supported BlackBerry Models
    Model 7100t, 7105t, 7290, 8290, 8700g
  3. Connect Your BlackBerry
    Make sure your BlackBerry is connected by USB cable, and your BlackBerry Handheld Manager is running (just launch BlackBerry Desktop to run it.) This is necessary for using the BlackBerry as an external modem. You cannot use BlackBerry as a modem unless you have BlackBerry Handheld Manager running in the background!
    .
  4. Modem Driver Install
    If you installed a recent version of BlackBerry Desktop that came with a 7100t, 7290, 7250, or 7520, it should include modem drivers and already be automatically installed. In the event you need to manually install them, the modem drivers should be located in this directory:
    C:program filesCommon FilesResearch In MotionModem Drivers
    However, if you are having problems with these drivers, uninstall, delete all leftover RIM files, and then reinstall the latest version of BlackBerry Desktop.
    .
  5. Verify The Modem Driver Is Functioning
    Go to Control Panel -> Phone & Modem Options. In the Modems tab, you should see a new Standard Modem on a new port (such as COM6 or COM11). Click Properties -> Diagnostics -> Query Modem. You should see the following:

Quote:

ATQ0V1E0 – OK
AT+GMM – BlackBerry IPmodem
AT+FCLASS=? – OK
AT#CLS=? – OK
AT+GCI? – OK
AT+GCI=? – OK
ATI1 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
ATI2 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
ATI3 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
ATI4 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
ATI5 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
ATI6 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem
ATI7 – Research In Motion / BlackBerry IPmodem

Note: This may look different on Nextel 7520, or Sprint/Verizon/Bell Mobility 7250. This is normal. Just make sure there is a response at all, rather than no response.
.

  1. IMPORTANT SPECIAL CONFIGURATION STEP
    Click Properties -> Advanced and add only ONE of the following Extra initialization commands with the appropriate carrier-specific APN Setting:

    TMOBILE USA Users (Success!)
    +cgdcont=1,”IP”,”wap.voicestream.com”

  2. Add A New Internet Connection
    Close the Phone and Modem Options and the Control Panel. Create a new connection with Start -> Connect To -> Show all connections -> Create a new connection.

Quote:

1. Click Next

2. Select “Connect To The Internet” then Next

3. Select “Set up my connection manually” then Next

4. Select “Connect using a dial-up modem” then Next.

5. Check only the Standard Modem (if prompted).

6. Give the connection a name such as “BlackBerry Modem”, then Next.

7. On the next screen, pick one of the following phone numbers, depending on your carrier:
….If you use GSM/Cingular/AT&T/TMobile: Enter phone number *99#
….If you use iDEN/Nextel/Telus: Enter phone number S=2
….If you use CDMA/Verizon/Sprint/Bell Canada: Enter phone number #777

8. Click Next.

9. On the next screen, pick one of the following, depending on your carrier:

….If you use Cingular Blue, AT&T or Nextel:
………Username: (blank)
………Password: (blank)

….If you use Rogers Canada:
………Username: wapuser1
………Password: wap

….If you use Cingular Orange:
………Username:
………Password: CINGULAR1

….If you use T-Mobile:
………Username: (Your existing TMobile.com Username)
………Password: (Your existing TMobile.com Password)

….If you use Verizon, replace 8005551212 with your phone number:
………Username:
………Password: 8005551212

….If you use Sprint:
………Username: (Your existing Sprint PCS Username)
………Password: (Your existing Sprint PCS Password)

….If you use Bell Mobility, replace 8005551212 with your phone number:
………Username:
………Password: (Your Bell Mobility Voicemail PIN)

10. Clear all checkboxes (“Use…when anyone…” and “Make this the default…”)

11. Click Finish

.

  1. Disable IP Header Compression
    Make sure TCP/IP Properties (Advanced) “Use IP Header Compression” checkbox is NOT checked. To verify this, do these steps:

Quote:

1. Start Menu->Network Connections->”BlackBerry Modem”
2. Click Properties Button
3. Click Networking Tab
4. Select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)”
5. Click Properties Button
6. Click Advanced… Button
7. Disable “Use IP header compression” checkbox
8. Click all OK buttons to close all dialogs

Also make sure you clear all these checkboxes, if you see any of these checked:
Turn off “Enable Hardware Flow Control”
Turn off “Enable Modem Error Control”
Turn off “Enable Modem Compression”
.

  1. BES Configuration
    Skip this step if you are not on BES. You only need to follow this step if your company gave the BlackBerry to you. If you are at a company and you are on a BES 4.0, your Administrator must enable the “BlackBerry IPModem” setting on the BES. This is a new setting in the Version 4.0 of BES.
    .
  2. Surf On The Laptop!
    Connect to the Internet on the laptop by clicking the “BlackBerry Modem” icon via Start Menu->Network Connections. No username or password is needed.

Spamassassin settings for bayesian filtering

Posted on by Kurt Weiske

SPAM fighting (A talking to myself, want to get this in google post…)
I’ve been getting a HUGE number of SPAMs slipping through my SPAMASSASSIN filter, and have been trying to figure out how to combat it. SPAMs are getting flagged as BAYES_00, which gives them a negative score.

I was moving them into the SPAM folder, then running sa-learn nightly to train.
I’ve started moving those SPAMs into a separate folder, then running sa-learn—forget to forget the scoring, then moving them back into the SPAM folder and re-running sa-learn.

I’ve also tried changing the score for BAYES_00 from negative to 0 by adding the following line to my user_prefs file:

score BAYES_00 0.1

I should look at getting my addresses out of Outlook and into a whitelist format for Spamassassin.
So, the process looks like:

Move mis-filed HAM from SPAM to SPAM-moved

/usr/bin/sa-learn—forget—dir /home/kweiske/Maildir/.SPAM-moved/cur
/usr/bin/sa-learn—spam—dir /home/kweiske/Maildir/.SPAM/cur

Move the mis-files HAM from SPAM-moved to Inbox

/usr/bin/sa-learn—ham—dir /home/kweiske/Maildir/cur

Fingers are crossed.

There’s a good online resource regarding Bayesian filtering at http://spamassassinbook.packtpub.com/chapter9.htm, a free chapter in an online book.

Weird networking knockoff

Posted on by Kurt Weiske

This is one of the strangest knock-offs I’ve seen; they’ve totally borrowed the Linksys case design, but use a one-antenna board:

 

WR214E-unit

I’m pretty sure that even the B Linksys routers had two antennae.

In another project, I have my FON router operational. It’s in a DMZ and allows access to other FON users for free. Check out the web page, it’s a great idea.

The FON router is a WRT54GL, apparently it’s a Linux version of the WRT54G series. Older G series routers ran Linux, newer ones run VXworks. Mine is the router equivalent of putting “Classic” at the name of anything. :)

I’m going to hook one up as the FON point, another as a router to handle PPTP services, featureful firewalling, and act as a border host.

Having a router running embedded Linux changes the way I think of appliance routers. Instead of a box with limited functionality, a finite development path and obscure featureset, linux routers are functional, expandable, can be extended beyond the manufacturer’s end-of-life, and are easy to understand if you know Linux.

The Netopia R- and 3500-series routers and SMC barricades I’ve loved over the years seem crippled by comparison.

Speechless

Posted on by Kurt Weiske

Speechless

ASPEN, Colo. – Hunter S. Thompson, the acerbic counterculture writer who popularized a new form of fictional journalism in books like “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” fatally shot himself Sunday night at his home, his son said. He was 67.

It’s all over the news now, HST was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in his home in Colorado.

Damn!

I don’t know if it would be possible to understand the effect that HST had on my circle of friends. Circle back to 1990, the heyday of BBSes. Rat Head Systems was a nexus of all things related to the Big Fear, bad science, alien conspiracy theories, better living through chemistry, Frank Sinatra and Spock erotic filk. Think Mondo 2000 meets the Rat Pack in college at Burning Man.

RatSnatcher (the sysop) is a wonderful person whose passion for bizarre governmental coverups and legendary monster sightings inspired me to look to alternative news and information. There’s a whole new world just underneath the surface if you dig far enough…

One of Ratsnatcher’s favorite authors was, you guessed it – HST. Hanging with the Rat Head Systems crowd inspired me to read his books over the years. Others have come and gone as I’ve moved, gone through different phases, or organized, but I can look at a bookcase near my computer and see the titles – FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, THE PROUD HIGHWAY, BETER THAN SEX, SONGS OF THE DOOMED, THE RUM DIARY, FEAR AND LOATHING IN AMERICA, SCREWJACK…

His writing in Hell’s Angels was scathing, gritty, gone to earth, and as embedded as they come. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was a wonderful drug-addled fantasy that makes me want to drive a 1970 Chevy Impala convertible to Las Vegas and attempt a pale imitation of his tale.

One passage in that book struck me as particularly beautiful. He’s remembering back to the Summer of Love a few years hence in SF from his hotel room in Las Vegas:

"There was madness in any direction and at any hour. You could
strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense 
that whatever we were doing right, that we were winning. And 
that, I think, was the handle -- that sense of inevitable 
victory over the forces of old and evil. Not in any mean or 
military sense; we didn't need that.

Our energy would simply prevail. We had all the momentum; 
we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. 

So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep
hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of 
eyes you can almost see the high water mark -- that place 
where the wave finally broke and rolled back."

I read his books, explored his rarified world that was part reality, part drug haze and part vivid imagination. Every time I think it’s more drugs and imagination than reality I’m reminded of the movie “Big Fish”, where Ewan Mcgregor follows his father’s legend and tries to make sense of a life’s worth of tall tales.

Looking for a fitting tribute, I scoured the house for ice and rum to toast his leaving this earth, but had to settle for single malt scotch in a coffee mug.

Be Well, Hunter. We’ll miss you.

“He who makes a beast of himself escapes the fear of being a man.” — HST